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Posts Tagged ‘Kharabath’

Formula 100. That’s what mom calls Rava Upma/Rava Khichdi/Khaarabath. It literally takes 15-20 minutes to make this breakfast/ dinner recipe and you can add as many vegetables as you want in this dish. If you have left over stir fried vegetables or korma, just throw them in and make this savory pudding. If you do not have any vegetables handy, just make it with some green chilies and cilantro. It will still be flavorful. You do not need anything fancy to make this dish. It will taste good whether it has vegetables, spices or even as simple upma with ghee.

This Kharabath is a anytime dish in our place. N likes both kharabath and kesari bath (authentic Karnataka Breakfasts) and he can eat them for Breakfast,Lunch or Dinner. If I am cooking for myself when N is on a tour, I just make them in a pot to last me for a couple of days along with maggi noodles, and then get a book to get myself occupied

With spicy mango or garlic pickles, upma is real comfort food.

Ingredients (Serves-2)

Rava(Cream of wheat)- 2 cups

Finely chopped onion-1/4 cup

Finely chopped tomato-one(small tomato)

Carrots and potatoes (grated)- 1/2 cup

Peas- 1/4 cup

Oil- 2 tsp

Salt- 1 tsp

Mustard seeds-1 tsp

Chana dal- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder- 3/4 tsp

Red chili powder- 1/2 tsp

Chopped ginger- 1 tbsp

Slit green chilies- 3 numbers

Curry leaves- 4

Cilantro to garnish

Lemon juice(optional)

Water- 4 cups

Method:

Add a tsp of oil in a pan and fry the rava till it turns golden color and smells like its well done. Remove from fire.

Add the chopped onions and fry well till it turns transparent. Add grated veggies, tomato,salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Add 4 cups of water and cover. I grated these veggies as they will cook faster and will look colorful too.

When the water is boiling and the veggies have turned tender, reduce the heat to a low or switch off for a minute(This is important else rava will splatter all over the place).

Now slowly add the fried rava and keep stirring so that no lumps are formed. Increase the flame to high for a minute, stir well and switch off. Do not keep cooking after adding the rava. Garnish with cilantro leaves and lemon juice. Serve hot with a dollop of ghee on top.

Partially cover the pan after switching off, else the upma will get soggy and sticky instead of single grains.

If only I could call it with the name I am so familiar with, I wouldnt have this story to tell about the famous khara bath- rava upma (cream of wheat pudding)

When we were newly married, we used to live in the East Coast. I was searching for jobs/schools so I was at home most of the time. One fine evening, as hubby was driving back to home, on a rainy day(well it almost always rains/snows in the east coast once winter approaches), he called me and said he wanted to have hot kharabath for dinner..SLV style.

The points to remember are that hubby speaks kannada like anything and I speak tamil like anything..and I didnt know what kharabath was as I had never set my foot in Karnataka. I thought it was some rice variety as all rice dishes end with a bath..vangi bath, bise bela bath, bagala bath etc., And the first bench student that I was, I would have told him the only SLV I knew was Solid-Liquid-Vapor Equilibrium

I waited for him to come home to ask him what it was..You see, hubby will eat a dish somewhere and to recreate it at home without eating or tasting it is quite a task…After a few explanations though, I was laughing as it nothing but the simple vegetable rava upma we make at home. I also learnt about the famous SLV restaurants in bangalore that day.

I think of this incident every time I make upma. The kharbath is slightly different from upma as we dont include red chili powder in upma, but thats what gives the karam(spice) to the bath..hence the name kharabath! I usually make my upmas in a bronze vessel called Uruli. Uruli gives a very unique taste to arisi upmas and so I carried this one all the way from home to US.

Ingredients (Serves-2)

Rava- 2 cups

Finely chopped onion-1/4 cup

Finely chopped tomato-one(small tomato)

Mixed veggies- 1 cup (beans, carrots, peas, potato,cauliflower, depending on what you have in hand)

Oil- 2 tsp

Salt- 1 tsp

Mustard seeds-1 tsp

Chana dal- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder- 3/4 tsp

Red chili powder- 1/2 tsp

Chopped ginger- 1 tbsp

Slit green chilies- 3 numbers

Curry leaves- 4

Cilantro to garnish

Lemon juice(optional)

Water- 4 cups

Method:

Add a tsp of oil in a pan and fry the rava till it turns golden color and smells like its well done. Remove from fire.

Add the chopped onions and fry well till it turns transparent. Add all other veggies, tomato,salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Add 4 cups of water and cover.

When the water is boiling and the veggies have turned tender, reduce the heat to a low or switch off for a minute(This is important else rava will splatter all over the place).

Now slowly add the fried rava and keep stirring so that no lumps are formed. Increase the flame to high for a minute, stir well and switch off. Do not keep cooking after adding the rava. Garnish with cilantro leaves and lemon juice.

Partially cover the pan after switching off. Fully covered pan will result in mushy kharabath as the steam will condense and fall on top of the kharabath.